ZIMBABWEAN international film maker Moses Matanda is in the country to shoot a two-hour movie Chinhoyi 7 based on the story of the seven ZANLA fighters that ignited the Second Chimurenga in Chinhoyi in 1966.
Stories of the liberation struggle are yet to be fully delivered by locals through film which has resulted in foreign filmmakers coming up with productions with distorted facts that suit their agendas.
As a result of these distortions, the Zimbabwean story of independence has been misrepresented on the international arena.
Matanda said the movie was meant to correct misconception of the country’s liberation struggle by telling the story from a Zimbabwean perspective.
“The history of Zimbabwe is very Anglo-centric and biased in a way meant to uphold the supremacy of whites over black people,” said Matanda.
“The Anglo-centric history portrays black Zimbabweans as barbaric and as people who stole land from white people.
“Such history is incorrect and I will share the true history of Zimbabwe through film.”
The history of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle produced by foreigners tries to legitimise British colonisation, and freedom fighters are portrayed as ‘terrorists’ who illegally removed the ‘legitimate’ Ian Smith government from power.
The veteran filmmaker said post-independence generations were mentally poisoned by Western media and now believed that there was little sacrifice made by guerrillas to free the country from colonial bondage.
“A younger generation of Zimbabweans born after independence in 1980 does not know the causes of the liberation war because the history is still distorted by international media houses, the world over,” said Matanda.
“The history of Zimbabwe is mainly shown from a Eurocentric perspective hence it is biased and inaccurate.
“As a result, the world does not know true events that led to the war of liberation hence the attempt with this movie.
“I chose the Chinhoyi Battle because it was the first attack by black soldiers against the Rhodesians which sparked the armed liberation war.”
Matanda said there was need for the country to respect and honour liberation war heroes for their great contribution in the achievement of independence.
“I am willing to show people what the war veterans went through during the war,” he said.
“Freedom was never free; it was paid for with what can never be replaced and this fact alone should humble us all.
“War heroes from across the world are honoured and respected by their contemporaries.
“Let us honour and respect our uniformed forces.”
Matanda has featured in several movies that include Call of Duty which he acted as a Russian soldier.
He has also appeared as a lead actor for ‘Discovery Channel TV’ series The Real Prison Break and in another TV series, Battlefield which is still in production.
The movie will feature five international actors, Julian Shaw from Britain, Kim Sonderholm from Denmark, Diana Stefanescu of Romania, and Nick Smyth and Cynthia Stone both from Canada with the main actor coming from Zimbabwe.
The film Chinhoyi 7 will also include over 40 actors with speaking roles and more than one hundred extras.
Matanda said the movie will be financed locally through sourcing funds from the corporate sector.
“This is a Zimbabwean project being told by Zimbabweans, so I can assure you that the content of this movie will not be influenced by foreigners,” he said.
“We will tell the story as it happened.
“Even though I received assistance from my friends such as Diana Stefanescu, most of the funding will be done locally.
“We are also going to work with the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) in some of our scenes.”
Matanda said the movie would also help to market Zimbabwe as a safe tourist destination and correct wrong images that have been portrayed by the Western media.
He said the movie is expected to be released in August this year and coincide with Heroes Day commemorations.
“The movie will be shot using latest technology in different sites of the country that include Victoria Falls, Mutarazi Falls and many other tourist destinations in the country,” he said.
“We expect to start shooting the movie next month with auditions for actors beginning end of this month.
“I also intend to produce more movies based on the liberation struggle after Chinhoyi 7.”
Various stories of national interest are yet to be told through the film medium as the arts industry has not been spared from the effects of illegal sanctions imposed against the country by the West and its allies.
And pundits contend that Government has to support the sector until it can thrive on its own.